Na Wei (L) and a friend at Na’s workshop. Photos by Li Dan
Debra Li
FOR Na Wei, former viola player with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO), making string instruments is a process as enjoyable as performing with them. Both jobs allow him to fully utilize his dextrous hands, bringing peace to his soul.
“No life is better than that in which you can do the things you love,” he said in an interview last week. And in his case, life has been even better than that. He has made many friends, apart from a small fortune out of his love for string instruments.
Born in 1955 into a teacher’s family in Harbin, Northeast China, Na began to play the violin in his teens. With an almost instinctive love for music, he was a diligent student who never missed a class even in the harshest weather.
“The teachers at Harbin Opera House never charged me a penny for the classes, because at that time money was not the driving force like it is in today’s society. They were very responsible tutors, and I treasured the opportunity,” he recalled.
In 1972, he got a job with the Harbin Opera House as a violinist. Not long after that, an accident kindled his interest in making the instrument.
“My violin broke by accident and there was no one around to fix it; and neither was it possible for me to get another good violin,” he said.
Na decided to give it a try himself. He found magazines, books and anything he could lay hands on, did much research, spent months repairing the violin, and was amazed to find it worked.
From then on, Na has been fascinated by the structure of the instrument and treats violin making as his main hobby.
“It is an often forgotten and overlooked art, yet indispensable to the expression and preservation of great works of music. Since its earliest beginnings, the violin has been an embodiment of the highest ideals of art,” he said.
“But certainly, the secrets of this art were revealed to me over many years.”
Violin making is more than a craft, and entails much more than the mere construction of a violin.